Homeowners will soon be able to avail of new grants to replace their windows and doors in order to make their home more energy efficient.

The new grant was announced by Minister Darragh O’Brien after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.

The grants, which will be available through the SEAI’s Better Energy Homes Scheme, are meant to make homes more suitable for heat pumps by replacing poorly performing doors & windows.

The grants will be aimed at homes where “the building fabric meets the standard suitable for heat pump installation”.

This means that many homes may need to install attic and/or wall insulation first to improve the energy efficiency of their home. Only then will they be able to get the grant for windows and doors.

These grants will be available for applications through the SEAI from March 3.

The mention of the new grant in the National Residential Retrofit Plan published today states that the grant will be a “fixed amount”, but does not specify what that will be.

If the grant for windows and doors is set at the same level as is currently available for deep retrofits, the values will be as laid out below.

William Walsh, chief executive of SEAI, said, “Today’s announcement is a huge boost. Last year was a record year for SEAI, but now, with these new measures, we will go even further, bringing lower energy bills and more comfortable, healthier living to thousands more across the country.”

“We’ve built up the industry, we have the expertise, and now we have the momentum. There really has never been a better time to retrofit your home and at SEAI, we are here to help you every step of the way.”

The SEAI already offers grants for door and window replacements. However, up until now these have only been available for homes undergoing a deep retrofit through the One Stop Shop Scheme.

This involves a great deal of work done on your home, with a median cost to homeowners after the grant of €36,000 to €44,000.

Now, people will be able to avail themselves of window and door replacement grants as individual upgrades, without having to get any other work done at the same time.

Individual upgrades are more suitable for homeowners who want to spread out the cost of home improvement works rather than paying all in one go.

Any upgrades, such as new doors & windows, will deliver savings on heating bills by reducing heat loss and draughts, lowering your heating bill.

These window & door grants are meant to help make homes suitable for replacing their current heating systems with a heat pump.

Heat pumps extract heat from the outside air, and use it to heat water or air inside your home. They can be highly efficient, delivering three or four units of heat for every unit of electricity they use.

Heat pumps have a lower flow temperature than gas or oil boilers for the water in your central heating system. They are most efficient at keeping your home warm when they are running constantly.

In order to make older homes suitable for heat pumps, they often need to reduce or eliminate heat loss through the fabric of the building. This can involve adding insulation to attics, walls, and floors, and replacing older doors and windows.

Also included in the announcement today is that grant support for Attic and Cavity Wall insulation will be increasing from February 3.

The adjustment to these grant values is meant to bring them back up to 80% of the median cost of both measures.

The fixed grant level is being increased as cost inflation for home improvements since then has reduced the value of the grant to 75% of median cavity wall insulation costs and only 63% of median attic insulation costs.

Applications which have already been made to the SEAI by February 3 will see their grant levels increased in line with that adjustment.

In addition, first time buyers of an existing home will be able to receive an even higher grant for Attic Insulation from March 3. This grant will be set at 100% of the median cost of attic insulation.

People who qualify for fully-funded upgrades under the Warmer Homes Scheme will also be able to get that same grant level for attic and cavity wall insulation under the Better Energy Homes Scheme.

This enhanced grant level is available for people on qualifying welfare payments due to the large backlog of applications to the Warmer Homes Scheme.

The rules on grant eligibility are also changing to allow people to get grants for more than one type of wall insulation. Under the current rules, people who have received a grant for cavity, internal, or external wall insulation are not able to apply for a grant for a second measure.

From March 3, people will be able to apply for a grant for a second wall measure under the Better Energy Home Scheme to make their walls more heat pump ready.